The Dystopian Imagery Used In George Orwell's Animal Farm

The book Animal Farm can easily be compared to many real life events and political leaders. Throughout the book you see a trusted friend gain power. When this friend, Napoleon, gains his power and becomes a leader he takes advantage of that power in every way possible. Just like in any other situation of someone gaining power, it happens fast enough so nothing can stop them, but slow enough that no one notices it happening until it is too late. After that point, one bad event after another happens. Some people will see past the leader’s nice façade and others won’t. This will cause an outbreak of multiple battles and sometimes war. It is hard to speak out against such a powerful leader. You have to make sure your actions are worth whatever consequence may be given to you. Often times, the consequence is death. There are many examples of these kinds of things in Animal Farm.

The animals wanted to exclude themselves from the rest of the world. They did not want or need anyone else's help. When the animals attacked Mr. Jones they got exactly what they had wanted. Mr. Jones and his wife left. The animals wanted to take care of themselves and did not want to depend on a human or have a human depend on them (Orwell, 1946, p.29). North Korea made a similar choice. Although North Korea has always been somewhat isolated it became even more so when they made nuclear threats to the United States. North Korea does not want help from another country and they also do not want to help other countries (North Korea Profile, 2013, p.1).

Kim Jong-Un is a perfect example of a leader with too much power. He is about thirty years old, which is very young for someone to be running a country; because he is so young he made sure that no one older than him had power over him. He has already gotten rid of five of the seven officials that had been part of his father's ruling before he passed away (Harlan, 2013, p. 1). In Animal Farm, Napoleon, the leader, takes out the other leader, Snowball. He does this so he can have full control. He did it in a way that made it seem as though Snowball had betrayed all of them. When the animals were divided on whose side to take Napoleon made their choice for them. He had a pack of dogs chase after Snowball, so he was no longer in the picture. This was the first sign of him taking control over the entire farm. No one noticed how he was doing it for his own benefits. They really trusted him and his opinion on how to improves their lives on the farm (Orwell, 1946, p.58).

In Animal Farm the farm becomes very prosperous. They have many working mills and other things to keep the farm running. However, all of the animals are usually tired from being overworked and typically do not get much to eat. Despite the seemingly lack of food, Napoleon and the rest of the pigs always have enough to eat and barely have to work (Orwell, 1946, p.119). The same thing is currently happening in North Korea. While there are many people living in poverty there, Kim Jong-Un has no problem spending mass amounts of money. He spent over double the usual amount. He bought himself multiple cars and even a theater. While he is living a luxurious lifestyle most of the country is suffering (Tadeo, 2014, p.1).

After coming into power, Kim Jong-Un tends to stay hidden. He does not attend very many political events and is rarely seen in public. When he is at these events he keeps his speeches to a minimum (Kim Jung-Un Biography, n.d., p.4). This is probably because people are catching on to the fact that he is not a great ruler like he once had appeared to be. Napoleon is like this in the book. In the beginning, he had to gain everyone's trust so he was always around trying to lead and make things seemingly better, although that was not necessarily the case. Towards the end of the book he is seen less and less. He is usually about doing his own thing not working and only worrying about himself and his own needs. He does not actually care about the well-being of all of the other animals on the farm. When he did present himself in front of the farm he also kept his speeches short (Orwell, 1946, p.126).

There have been plots to overthrow Kim Jong-Un. One of them has been by his very own uncle, Jang Song Thaek. When this had happened Kim's uncle was stripped of the power he had (Harlan, 2013, p.1). There is a similar occurrence in Animal Farm. Whenever anyone spoke out against Napoleon they were killed by his dogs. Four pigs had protested against Napoleon and later admitted to keeping in touch with Snowball, who was Napoleon’s enemy. Napoleon decided to punish them by death (Orwell, 1946, p.82-83). Although Jang Song Thaek and the others were not killed they still had consequences. In both situations when someone protested with what the leader was doing, they were greatly punished for it. Jang Song Thaek lost all of his power and control. The four pigs lost their lives, entirely.

Since Kim Jong-Un's father and grandfather previously controlled North Korea, when his father passed away the power was given to him. There was really no other competition. The same thing happened to Napoleon (Orwell, 1946, p.108-109). He was the only one who had run for president. This made him win, unanimously.

In both situations there was really no other option. Unless someone else had ran. Even if someone would have run for either position the outcome most likely would have been the same. Since Kim Jung-Un's family had been running the country, North Koreans are seemingly happy with the way it is ran, so they probably would have voted for Kim, regardless. If someone would have ran against Napoleon they probably would have been killed and not been able to make it to the election. If Napoleon did not kill the other candidate, all of the animals probably would have been too scared to vote against Napoleon, making him president.

Napoleon did many things that they animals were not allowed to do. One example of this is when he killed all of the animals that had done something wrong, in his opinion. It was in the Seven Commandments that none of the animals were to be killed. However, after Napoleon killed those animals the commandment was changed to animals could be punished by death if there was a valid reason for killing them (Orwell, 1946, p. 82-83). Alcohol was also illegal at one point on the animal farm. Napoleon had also changed this to benefit himself. He used it as a celebration. So the rule of alcohol changed to that they are not allowed to over indulge in it (Orwell, 1946, p.102-103). Napoleon had gained leadership over all of the animals, which were also against the Seven Commandments (Orwell, 1946, p.122-123). Kim Jong-Un is spending extreme amounts of money on himself, which is illegal in North Korea, yet he does it with no consequences (Tadeo, 2013, p.2). Both leaders are essentially allowed to do whatever they want. Very few people will speak out against either of them. If they do the consequences are very extreme.

Kim Jong-Un is very intelligent. We know this not only because he is running a country, but also in other ways. At first, he was not a very good student; he had trouble in certain subjects and was even held back. He eventually was able to comprehend things better and went on to a secondary school. Throughout his life, before running North Korea, he was given many high ranks in various things such as the General of KPA, Vice Chairmen of the Party Central Military Committee and more. He played a significant role in the country's ruling (Kim Jung Un Biography, n.d. p.3). Napoleon was in the same position. He started off with the same amount of intelligence as the rest of the animals, but with hard work he was able to learn more. He and a few of the other animals had learned how to read and write. This is a major part in how he became the ruler. If he had not had the intelligence to read and write he would not have been able to make the Seven Commandments nor would he have been able to modify them for his needs later, as he did (Orwell, 1946, p.32-33). Kim would not have gotten to the power that he did if he had not worked so hard. Without all of his other positions, people most likely would not have taken him seriously. His high rankings helped him in earning and keeping his position as the leader of North Korea.

North Korea has a very large military. No one unwelcomed into North Korea will get past. The United States, among other countries, have received nuclear threats from them. They are a very strong and powerful country (North Korea Profile, 2013 p.3). The animals managed to get Mr. and Mrs. Jones off of their farm with their strong forces; this was like their own form of military. They did not want humans on their land, so they made sure to do something about it and get rid of them (Orwell, 1946, p.29).

An obvious comparison between the two leaders is that neither of them can be trusted. Kim Jung-Un got rid of his own uncle, as stated previously. Napoleon easily killed off multiple animals for doing little things that he had disapproved of. They both truly seem to be heartless, which is a frequent characteristic of such powerful leaders. Caring is not a way to get into power.

Animal Farmcan easily be related to North Korea and their leader, Kim Jong-Un. This book can be related to not only Kim, but it can also be related to many other communist leaders. The book can give you a really good perspective on totalitarianism. It shows not only the power that the leader has, but also how hard it is for someone without power to change the way things are being ran.

References

Harlan, C. (2013, December 13). In North Korea, Kim Jong Un rises, and advisors are shoved aside. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-north-korea-kim-jong-un-rises-and-advisers-are-shoved-aside/2013/12/13/cd8529ac-63cf-11e3-af0d-4bb80d704888_story.html

King Jung Un biography. (n.d.). North Korea Leadership Watch. Retrieved from http://nkleadershipwatch.wordpress.com/kim-jong-un/

North Korea profile. (2013, December 17). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15256929

Orwell, G. (1946). Animal farm. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

Tadeo, M. (2014, February 21). Kim Jong-un 'spent over $600m in a year' while North Korean citizens starved to death. The Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/kim-jongun-spent-over-600m-in-a-year-while-north-korean-citizens-starved-to-death-9145059.html/